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Washington Redskins Schedule Breakdown
The Redskins have what has been ranked as the 18th toughest schedule heading into next season, that is based on this year’s opponents record for 2012 being a combined 127-128-1. I don’t put a lot of weight into the strength of schedule stat as teams change from one year to the next and no one has any idea just who will be good in any given year.
The non-division games that jump off the page to me right away are at Green Bay (week 2), the Bears at home (week 7), at Denver (week 8), the 49ers at home (week 12) and at the Falcons (week 15). It’s not that the other games will not be tough tests, but those games, in my opinion, are the key non-division games this year.
Philadelphia Eagles Week 1 (Home)
Week one will be an important one for the Redskins this season as there are still questions looming over whether or not Robert Griffin III will be healthy. The Redskins will be facing a team that has yet to establish an identity and isn’t even sure as of yet just who the starting quarterback will be as Mike Vick, Nick Foles and even rookie Matt Barkley is in the race.
The Eagles, in fact, have the element of surprise in their favor since no one even knows just what type of offense first-year head coach Chip Kelly will run. That in itself worries me, but if the Redskins can establish the running game that worked so well from a year ago, they should be able to win this game rather easily while the Eagles start to try to fix the mess their defense became a year ago. Prediction – Redskins win
Green Bay Packers Week 2 (Away)
The last time the Redskins played the Green Bay Packers they walked away with a win over the soon to be Superbowl champs of that season. The Packers since then have lost a few of their pieces, but in perfect Packer fashion, they have also replaced those pieces with younger versions. They still have Aaron Rodgers and are still on the premier teams in the NFC.
The Packers have spent a great deal of their off-season looking for an answer to the read-option and pistol formations. Their team was crushed by Colin Kaepernick and the Niners in the playoffs by the offensive schemes and realize that if they want to continue to be relevant in the NFL that they need to be able to deal with the mobile QBs of today’s game. Something tells me the Redskins fall flat in the early season trip to Wisconsin. Prediction – Packers win
Detroit Lions Week 3 (Home)
There was a time when you would automatically put a “W” next to the Redskins in the win-loss column against Detroit without even going into any specifics with the game, those days could, in fact, return soon. The Lions are coming off a season in which the only thing that fully went right was Calvin Johnson.
The Lions have a lot to prove as they try to regain the winning ways of just a couple of years ago while competing in an ultra-tough division. The Redskins will have to come up with a game plan to stop Johnson and defensive monster Ndamukong Suh. Suh can completely alter an offensive gameplan, and unless game planned against correctly, he will do just that.
I think playing in front of the home crowd will have the Redskins on point and I believe RG3 will light Detroit’s secondary on fire. Prediction – Redskins win
Oakland Raiders Week 4 (Away)
It’s not often the Redskins get to travel to Oakland, but when they do I for one expect a victory. The Raiders are still digging out of the hole Al Davis dug for the last 10+ years of his life and don’ believe the will improve much this season. Prediction – Redskins win
Bye Week (Week 5)
Not much of a fan of the early bye weeks as they tend to lead to long stretch runs in November and December and don’t give the players the most ideal time to rest during the season.
Dallas Cowboys Week 6 (Away)
Getting the Dallas Cowboys after a bye week in any year is a good thing. It means Mike Shanahan will have two weeks to prepare for the game and we all know that means he will be ready for whatever the Cowboys try to accomplish. Many question marks surround the Cowboys at this point as they will have someone new calling offensive as well as defensive plays, but it should be obvious by this point in the season just how good the Cowboys will be.
No matter what the circumstances are, I expect this game to be a hugely contested battle, although I expect it to be a battle that the Redskins will have the upper hand in as I just don’t see Dallas being able to stop the one-two combo of RG3 and Alfred Morris. Prediction – Redskins win
Chicago Bears Week 7 (Home)
Very few games give me a feeling where I have no clue what to expect, this game gives me that exact feeling. The Bears looked tough against RG3 last year in preseason, albeit that was before Griffin knew the offense as well as he does now and the Shanahans were also not using the read-option at that point.
Julius Peppers is a rare type of athlete who in fact may be one of the only defensive linemen who can keep up with the speed in which Robert Griffin plays at. The Bears have a new head coach and a new defensive scheme heading into this season, so this game may be a wait and let’s see how things go type of deal. Prediction – toss up
Denver Broncos Week 8 (Away)
Much can be made about this particular game. Mike Shanahan’s first trip back to Denver since being fired, RG3’s first head to head matchup with Peyton Manning. This game has the makings of a classic as both offenses can be explosive, and you have the two most popular quarterbacks in the NFL right now. Expect all eyes to be focused in on this game as it will more than likely be the game of the week.
The defense will have to pressure Manning if the Redskins want to stand any chance in this matchup. As it stands right now… Prediction – Broncos win
San Diego Chargers Week 9 (Home)
The Chargers have a new look front office as well as head coaching staff heading into 2013, but they still have big arm quarterback Phillip Rivers to contend with. After years of being one of the most talented rosters who just couldn’t put it all together and win a title, the Chargers are now in fact knee deep in rebuild mode. Don’t get too confused with the word rebuild as this team still possess the pieces to win, I just question whether or not the coaching staff will be able to fix all the issues that exist from a year ago. Prediction – Redskins win
You can view part 2 (Weeks 10-17) by clicking HERE.
